MSNBC Reruns Philip Rucker's Dishonest Historical Hate-Summary of Trump's Speeches

July 7th, 2020 7:39 AM

The media's deliberate misinterpretation of President Trump's Mount Rushmore speech as part of a pro-Confederate culture war continued on Monday's MSNBC Live as the Washington Post's Philip Rucker cited unnamed Republicans who fear that Trump is planting the party "on the wrong side of history."

As Tim Graham noted, Rucker and Robert Costa wrote a nasty front-pager on Sunday shaming Republicans for not standing up to Trump's "culture war," as if Black Lives Matter and the statue-ripping squads aren't waging one. Rucker told Ayman Mohyeldin that privately "many Republicans" are worried about Trump's recent actions, but are too scared to say anything publicly. On the record, he included people like John Kasich, who was barely a Republican even before Trump became president.

 

 

According to Rucker, "there are real concerns that Trump with his racial animus, with the sort of messages he’s had of late about the Confederacy is firmly planting the Republican Party on the wrong side of history... but also longer term ramifications if the Republican Party is branded as the party protecting the Confederacy and as the party of white grievance." Notice they wouldn't cast the Democrats as "the party of black grievance."

Naturally, neither Rucker nor his anonymous Republican sources cared to explain why refusing to cancel Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and the mountain that bears their likeness that nearly everyone supported up until last week, is part of a pro-Confederate culture war.

Mohyeldin, after citing the New York Times calling Trump's Mount Rushmore speech "American carnage" tossed the conversation to Peter Alexander. Alexander lamented that not only did Trump not give a unifying Independence Day speech, but in addition to casting "immigrants and some foreign countries as the threat" now he is casting "other Americans, your neighbors, some of them, as a threat in this situation."

That's ironic, because the whole segment was about casting "other Americans" as being pro-Confederacy or a part of a white grievance movement for not wanting to cancel the Founding Fathers. 

This segment was sponsored by Wayfair.

Here is a transcript for the July 6 show:

MSNBC

MSNBC Live

9:20 AM ET

AYMAN MOHYELDIN: You write that Trump's push to amplify racism unnerves Republicans who have long enabled him. Talk to us a little bit about what is going on inside the party. 

PHILIP RUCKER: Well, there are some fears, Ayman, and they are only expressed privately at this point because so many Republicans are fearful of getting on the wrong side of this president. But there are real concerns that Trump with his racial animus, with the sort of messages he’s had of late about the Confederacy is firmly planting the Republican Party on the wrong side of history and this could hurt the Republican Party with voters in a lot of states like Colorado, Maine, Iowa, where senators are up for re-election this fall but also longer term ramifications if the Republican Party is branded as the party protecting the Confederacy and as the party of white grievance. 

MOHYELDIN: Peter, when you look at the events over the weekend, the tone, the messaging that is coming out of it, the New York Times called it an “American carnage” message referencing his inaugural address. It seems, Peter, this culture war messaging is going to be a part of -- if not the main focus, of the president's re-election strategy. What are you hearing? 

PETER ALEXANDER: We're witnessing it from the president, these are typically unifying, uplifting speeches from a president over the Fourth of July weekend. Not so. No real effort for the president to do so. Instead, stoking divisions and racial tensions in this country here. The president's remarks particularly striking in comparison to what he said in the American carnage inaugural ‘cause there he sort of cast immigrants and some foreign countries as the threat. Here he cast other Americans, your neighbors, some of them, as a threat in this situation.